Mmm, y’all, I made the best pizza the other night. Blew my own damn mind! I topped it with fresh arugula from my garden (yay, gardening in the south!) and some good fig balsamic vinegar. It was piled high with Gardein veggie ground “meat” that I had sautéed up with some yellow peppers, and I added lots of paprika, smoked salt, pepper, and fennel to make a sausage-like flavor. Don’t be afraid of that spice cupboard. Then added vegan feta and parmesan. The base of my pizza was Kite Hill chive cream cheese topped with a homemade romesco sauce that comes together so easy.

Romesco Sauce

Just put a roasted red pepper, 2 cloves of garlic, a half a handful of almonds, a bunch of parsley, salt, pepper, and a good dash of red wine vinegar with a bit of olive oil and blend it up.

So, now we have a homemade pizza crust, cream cheese, tangy romesco, peppers and “sausage”, feta, parmesan, and when it comes out of the oven add arugula, and balsamic. Dang. It’s a good time to be vegan.

Pizza Crust

• Combine 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon each: yeast, sea salt, oregano, 3 Tablespoons of olive oil, and 1/3 cup of warm water. Knead for five minutes, let rest for ten minutes. Or longer if you need to go run errands right quick. Done. Ready to roll out!
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Roll out with your fingers on a cookie sheet. (I got a pizza pan from Aldi’s with holes all over it that I LOVE. Makes some good thin crust pizza.
• Cook on the bottom rack for 12-15 minutes. Shake the pan after 12 and it should be loose and you can hear whether the crust is cooked. Or use a spatula to lift it a bit and feel if it’s crispy enough.

The knock on vegan substitutes is that they are made in a factory with unknown ingredients but I think if you look at the ingredients, you will recognize them. Meat and dairy are so full of genetically modified grain, additives, and misery, I’ll take the vegan ground, thanks very much.

I want you to be creative in the kitchen. Don’t be so hooked to a recipe that you lose the joy of cooking and making things to your preference. Recipes are not always fool proof either, so you may as well play in the kitchen! When I teach classes on bread baking or pizza making, it is all by feel, When the dough feels like this…Well, one can only get to that point by practicing!

When we got to Alabama, I clean fell off the vegan wagon. Armed with a high ball of whisky, I took to every barbeque joint in this town and beyond. We both gained too much weight and felt like crap. After two weeks vegan, I feel great, have lots of energy, and my hot flashes are gone with the wind. Hallelujah. Pass the romesco sauce.

I read a lot of food magazines, funny enough. I use the recipes to dream up vegan versions. I saw a recipe for a seafood salad. Like a crab salad you’d make sandwiches out of. Hearts of palm has a real similar consistency. So, I opened a can, drained it, cut it up, mixed in vegan mayo, a touch of mustard, relish, a heavy hand of Old Bay seasoning and served it up. Delicious. If you have a way to make certain things, just change the animal details to veg. Simple. You don’t have to relearn everything or wonder what the heck you’re going to make if you cut down on meat. It’s easy and fun and delicious and ain’t no body gonna starve!

Bon Appetit, y’all!